Tigernach mac Fócartai (died 865), also called Tigernach of Lagore, was King of

Lagore Loch Gabhair (Lagore), meaning "Lake of the Goats", is an area in the barony of Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland. It is located between the villages of Ratoath and Dunshaughlin and is the namesake of the townlands of Lagore Big (Loch Gabhar Mór) an ...

Background

Tigernach belonged to the Uí Chernaig branch of the once-powerful

Síl nÁedo Sláine Síl nÁedo Sláine () are the descendants of Áed Sláine (Áed mac Diarmato), son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall ...

kindred, part of the southern

Uí Néill The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into the ...

. His great-great-grandfather

Fogartach mac Néill Fogartach Mac'Artain (died 724), sometimes called Fogartach ua Cernaich, was an Irish king who is reckoned a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Uí Chernaig sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill. He was King of Br ...

had been

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...

. The kingdom of Brega over which the Síl nÁedo Sláine had once ruled was, by the middle of the eighth century, divided into two or more parts. The Uí Chernaig were styled kings of Lagore, or of south Brega, named after

Loch Gabhair Loch Gabhair (Lagore), meaning "Lake of the Goats", is an area in the barony of Ratoath, County Meath, Ireland. It is located between the villages of Ratoath and Dunshaughlin and is the namesake of the townlands of Lagore Big (Loch Gabhar Mór) an ...

in modern

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

study of the

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

in Loch Gabhair suggests that the seat of the kings of Lagore was there. The

Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( ga, Teamhair or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Iri ...

lay within the kingdom of Lagore, and this may have given the otherwise minor kingdom a somewhat greater importance.

Biography

During Tigernach's reign the Irish midlands were dominated by his distant Uí Néill kinsman, the High King

Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid Máel Sechnaill mac Máel Ruanaida (Modern Irish: ''Maolsheachlann Mac Maolruanaidh''), also known as Máel Sechnaill I, anglicised as Malachy MacMulrooney (died 27 November 862) was High King of Ireland. The Annals of Ulster use the Old Irish ti ...

Clann Cholmáin Clann Cholmáin is the dynasty descended from Colmán Már mac Diarmato, son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide (Meath) — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his s ...

. The earliest record of Tigernach may be his defeat of Máel Sechnaill and the

King of Leinster The kings of Leinster ( ga, Rí Laighín), ruled from the establishment of Kingdom of Leinster, Leinster during the Irish Iron Age, until the 17th century Early Modern Ireland. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as th ...

Ruarc mac Brain in 846. In 848, probably as part of a broad alliance of Irish kings, Tigernach gained a victory over

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

s at ''Dísert Do-Chonna'', an unidentified location, probably near the coast in the east midlands of Ireland. Vikings, however, were not the main threat to Tigernach. That came from his kinsmen in north Brega, the ambitious

Cináed mac Conaing Cináed mac Conaing (died 851) was King of Knowth in the medieval Irish province of Mide, succeeding his father Conaing mac Flainn in 849. Cináed's family belonged to the Knowth, or Uí Chonaing, branch of the Síl nÁedo Sláine, part of the so ...

and his brother

Flann Flann is both an English surname and an Irish masculine given name, but has also been used as a feminine given name. It might refer to: * Flann Fína mac Ossu, another name for King Aldfrith of Northumbria (died 704 or 705) * Flann mac Lonáin ( ...

. Cináed, who became king of north Brega in 849, allied with Vikings in 850 and, according to the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

'', "plundered the Uí Néill from the Shannon to the sea". He attacked the crannog at Loch Gabair, which was burned, as was the nearby church at Trevet with seventy people inside. The ''Annals of Ulster'' record Tigernach's revenge. Cináed met with Máel Sechnaill and Tigernach the following year where, in spite of promises of safe conduct guaranteed by the church, he was betrayed and "cruelly drowned in a pool by Máel Sechnaill and Tigernach". The

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...

record a battle between Flann and Tigernach in 854, at ''Domnach Mór'' ( Donaghmore in modern

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

) where Flann had the best of it. Nothing further is reported of Tigernach until his death in 865. His obituary calls Tigernach king of Lagore (''

rí Rí, or commonly ríg (genitive), is an ancient Gaelic word meaning 'king'. It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings, and those of similar rank. While the Modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish ...

Locha Gabor'') and co-king of Brega (''lethrí Breg'').

Descendants

The Ó Tighearnaigh/

Tierney Tierney is an Irish surname. It is an Anglicized form of Irish (male), (female), also spelt /. It is derived from '' tiarna'', the Irish word for Lord or Master. The name can be found around the world, mostly in the Anglosphere and it's most ...

family of

claim descent from Tigernach.

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tigernach mac Focartai 865 deaths People from County Meath 9th-century Irish monarchs Year of birth unknown